Waste-free method of making window treatments

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method are disclosed for forming cellular or non-cellular window shades directly from raw stock to the final desired window shade color, height and width to fit a particular window size, with essentially no wasted material. The shade is fabricated from a bonded array of a predetermined number of stacked, identically shaped and sized, elements or preforms of uniform length corresponding to one of the height or width dimensions of the desired window covering. The number of preforms is selected so that the length of the fully expanded array will correspond with the other of the height or width dimensions of the window covering. The raw stock is in the form of a continuously fed narrow strip of uncolored fabric to which the necessary coloring, folding, cutting-to-length, stacking and bonding steps are applied within the disclosed apparatus.

This application is a continuation which claims priority to U.S.application Ser. No. 13/889,929 filed May 8, 2013, which claims priorityto U.S. application Ser. No. 12/212,260 filed on Sep. 17, 2008 and isnow U.S. Pat. No. 8,465,617, the entireties of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to window coverings, and more particularly to animproved method of fabricating and assembling window coverings of thetype comprising expandable honeycomb or cellular window coverings formedof flexible fabric material. The disclosed method can also be used toform other types of window covering products that are, or can be, builtup from joined and repeating elements, such as fabric-vane windowshadings, pleated shades, Roman shades and roller shades.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

For purposes of the present description, a “shade” type of windowcovering is a type of area goods or panel whose final form is either (1)a single, continuous, integral piece of flexible fabric, without seamsor joints in the fabric, as exemplified by the common roller shade, or(2) a series of identical or very similar strips of flexible fabric,directly contacting and connected to adjacent such strips by gluing,stitching, ultrasonic welding or the like, as exemplified by certaincommercially available cellular honeycomb shades. In contrast, and alsofor present purposes, a “blind” is neither a type of area goods nor apanel, but instead comprises a series of separate, usually substantiallyrigid and opaque, elements (often called “slats” or “vanes”) that areconnected to one or more articulating members that permit the elementsto be tilted through varying degrees of inclination to control theamount of light and visibility through the blind. Unlike a “shade,” theelements of a “blind” are not directly joined (such as edge-to-edge) tothe adjacent element in the series.

A third type of product, a “fabric-vane window shading,” combines someof the physical characteristics of both a shade and a blind. An exampleof such a product is shown in Corey, U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,819, whereinthe product is described as a “fabric Venetian blind.” The vanes may beformed of a relatively opaque fabric, rather than a rigid material as inthe case of a conventional Venetian blind, and are interconnected byfull-area front and rear panels of a sheer or relatively translucentmaterial. Thus, the resulting product is in the form of a panelcomprising multiple stacked expandable cells, each of which is definedby upper and lower vanes and a portion of each of the front and rearpanels. In that sense, a “fabric-vane window shading” constitutes a“shade” rather than a “blind” under the definitions used herein. It willtherefore be referred to as a “fabric-vane window shading” in thepresent patent application.

Also, as used herein, “preform” refers to an elongated strip-likeelement or constituent part of a shade panel, which element may be flator folded, single or multiple-piece, which has been cut to final (orfinal but for minor trimming) length for use in a window coveringfabricated to fit a window of a particular size. This preform, orintermediary product, when joined directly along its longitudinal edgesto identical or substantially identical adjacent preforms in a stack ofsuch preforms, forms the panel portion of a window covering.

In the various embodiments disclosed herein, the preforms are typicallydescribed as having a “length” corresponding to the “width” of thewindow for which the completed window covering is ordered, because thepreforms will be most commonly be oriented horizontally when installedin such window. Also, for the same reason, it is contemplated that theaccumulation step where successive preforms are placed in side-by-sideadjacency for compression and bonding, will usually be in a vertical“stack.” However, it is to be understood that the process disclosedherein could also be used for making window coverings having verticallyoriented elements or preforms, where the “length” of the preform will beoriented vertically, parallel to the “height” dimension of the window tobe covered. Similarly, the “stacking” step could be implemented bybringing successive preforms into horizontal or inclined, rather thanvertical, adjacency.

In all cases discussed herein, the fabric panel portion of the windowcovering is suitable for, and intended to be assembled to, appropriatehardware, such as top and bottom rails, control cords or wands, and thelike, to facilitate installation and operation.

A popular type of window covering is a cellular window shade, made fromeither individual folded strips bonded to adjacent strips or acontinuous transversely folded sheet of flexible web (fabric or film).The fold lines are set by a thermal curing process, and a stack of thefolded strips or sheet is then bonded along adjacent parallel bond linesto create an expandable honeycomb structure in the form of a continuouscolumn of joined cells.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,450,027 and 4,603,072 to Colson describe one method offorming a “single-cell” honeycomb window covering, i.e., a producthaving a single column of joined expandable cells. According to thatmethod, a continuous narrow strip of longitudinally moving flexiblematerial is progressively folded into a flat, generally C- or U-shapedtube and then thermally treated to set the folds, while maintainingtension in the tube. Longitudinal lines of adhesive are then applied tothe moving tube, and the tube is spirally wound onto a rotating framehaving elongated flat portions, thereby creating a stack of cells ofsingle-cell width that are adhered to each other by the previouslyapplied adhesive. Straight sections of this bonded stack are thensevered from the remainder of the wound tubing. This method istime-consuming and expensive, and generates non-flat portions of thewinding that connect the adjacent flat portions of the rotating frameand that must be scrapped. The resulting bolt of expandable single-cellhoneycomb fabric may be 12 or more feet wide and 40 feet long in itsfully expanded condition. These bolts are then placed in inventory untilneeded to fill a customer order. In response to a specificcustomer-ordered window width and height, a stocked oversize bolt orpanel of the ordered color and pattern is cut down to the required widthand number of cells to provide the drop length needed for the height ofthe ordered windows, requiring skilled labor and inevitably resulting insubstantial waste even if the remaining portion of a given bolt isreturned to the inventory. Because future ordered window sizes cannot bepredicted, except in a statistical way, operators must use complex andimperfect algorithms to minimize the residual waste as individualwindow-size sections are cut from the stocked blocks. Typical wastefactors in converting blocks to window-size sections range from 25% insmaller shops to 15% in large-volume fabricators with steadier orderstreams.

A similar method is disclosed in Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,217,where the initially folded and creased material has a Z-shapedcross-section, with each winding of such strip forming the front of onecell and the rear of an adjacent cell after stacking and bonding.

A later-developed method of forming expandable honeycomb fabric isdisclosed in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,601 to Corey et al.That method involves continuously feeding a broad web of flexiblematerial, having a width that is at least as wide as the required widthof the window covering, through a web-treating stage where desiredcoloring or patterning are printed onto the material. The web is thenfed through appropriate drying or curing zones, and then betweenprinting rollers that apply transverse parallel lines of adhesive atpredetermined longitudinally spaced locations on the moving web. The webthen passes through a station that partially cures the lines of adhesiveto an intermediate, handlable state. The web next passes through acreasing and pleating apparatus that forms transverse fold lines atpredetermined intervals and predetermined locations relative to theadhesive lines. A predetermined length of the web, now folded into acreased and generally serpentine shape, is then severed from theupstream portion of the web and collected and compressed into a stack,where the adhesive is further cured to permanently bond adjacent foldsin a predetermined cellular pattern of double-cell width. Thisdouble-cell product can also be used to make single-cell panels bysimply cutting off one of the columns (which, to reduce waste, isinitially made narrower by shifting the adhesive line position), or bysevering alternate internal ligaments between adjacent front and rearcells. While faster than Colson's method, this method requirescontainment of large stacks of material for curing, usually donethermally by heating the entire stack and its containment structure.That heating method consumes excessive energy and time, and carries arisk of thermal distortion of the stack.

The initial web is typically formed into large bolts in the form ofcolumns of expandable cells, typically 10 ten feet wide and 40 feet infully expanded length. As in the case of the single-cell productdescribed above, the inventorying, subsequent cutting labor and scrappedmaterial is costly.

Another method of forming a generally cellular type of product isdisclosed in commonly-assigned Corey, U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,819. There, afabric-vane window shading comprising sheer front and rear panels andrelatively opaque fabric vanes is formed from an initial elongated,narrow, three-element strip having an opaque central portion secured byadhesive, stitching or other bonding technique along its twolongitudinal edges to adjacent sheer strips. Of course, the threeelements could be made from other materials, with the three componentsbeing the same or different. That three-element strip is then helicallywound onto a supporting surface, with each successive winding onlypartially overlapping the immediately preceding winding (like slabs ofbacon in a display pack) and bonded together along longitudinallyextending bond lines. Finally, the resulting loop of layered material iscut open along a cutting line perpendicular to the longitudinallyextending bond lines and then stored in rolls that may be 10 feet wideand 13-14 feet long if unrolled to the full drop-length of the deployedcondition. As in the case of the other disclosed methods, the cuttingdown of the initially formed cellular product into smaller pieces forspecifically sized window coverings requires skilled labor and resultsin substantial amounts of scrapped material.

There is a need for a more economical method of forming cellular windowshades and other types of window treatments such as Roman-style shadesand fabric-vane window shadings, each of which type of shade is (orcould be) made from joined and repeating flexible elements.Specifically, it would be desirable to eliminate the need to initiallyform and stock broad panels or bolts of such formed goods in variouscolors and patterns, from which individual window coverings must laterbe cut to fill customer orders for window coverings of specified lengthand width, with inevitable scrapping of unusable left over material.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

As described below, a window covering of finished length, width, colorand pattern may be formed in a continuous process directly fromuncolored fabric, by forming a plurality of elongated,identically-shaped, elements or preforms of either flat or foldedcross-sectional shape, cutting the preforms to a substantially finishedlength corresponding to one of the final dimensions of the finishedwindow covering, applying adhesive to each preform either before orafter the cutting step, stacking (vertically, horizontally or inclined)a predetermined number of the preforms as required to establish anotherof the final dimensions of the finished window covering, and bondingadjacent preforms together into an integrated window covering by curingthe adhesive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is an end view of a two-cell fragment of a single-cell type ofexpandable honeycomb window covering, made from the two preforms of thetype shown in FIG. 1B, and shown in slightly expanded condition.

FIG. 1B is an end view of a cell preform adapted for stacking andassembly into a single-cell window covering as shown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic perspective of strip-forming apparatusused for making single-cell preforms of the type shown in FIG. 1B inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified schematic side view of a portion of a preformreceiver/stacker apparatus for use in making cellular window coveringsin accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary simplified schematic perspective view of aportion of the apparatus of FIG. 3, additionally showing a portion ofthe cell preform accumulator chute.

FIG. 5 is a simplified schematic end view of the apparatus of FIGS. 3and 4.

FIG. 6 is a simplified cross-sectional view of a radio frequencyenergy-emitting bonding press.

FIG. 7A is an end view of a fragment of a double-cell type of expandablehoneycomb window covering, made from two preforms of the type shown inFIG. 7B, and shown in expanded condition.

FIG. 7B is an end view of a cell preform adapted for stacking andassembly into a double-cell window covering as shown in FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8A is an end view of a fragment of a fabric-vane window shadingtype of window covering, made from two preforms of the type shown inFIG. 8B, and shown in a partial light-admitting condition.

FIG. 8B is an end view of a cell preform adapted for partiallyoverlapping stacking and assembly into a fabric-vane window shading asshown in FIG. 8A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1A illustrates an end view of a portion of a conventionalsingle-cell honeycomb panel 10, such as widely used for shade-typewindow coverings. For illustration purposes, this portion comprises justtwo identical cells 12 bonded together by a pair of adhesive bead lines14 that typically extend longitudinally along the full length of theelongated cells. One conventional way of forming cells 10 is to creasean initially flat elongated strip of fabric along two longitudinalcrease lines 16 and then fold the outer portions inwardly toward thestrip center line to form flaps 18, thus creating a “preform” 20 in theshape shown in FIG. 1B. Next, two parallel lines or beads of adhesive 14are applied adjacent to the edges of flaps 18, these adhesive linespreferably extending for the full length of the preform. A single-cellcolumn or panel of honeycomb material may then be created by aligning,stacking and heat-curing the adhesive lines in a stack of thethus-formed preforms 20.

A preferred strip-forming apparatus 22 is illustrated in the simplifiedschematic of FIG. 2. Fabric supply roll 26 and the other illustratedcomponents are secured to one or more vertical support panels 24. Inthis illustrated embodiment, the supply roll carries uncolored,unpatterned, flat fabric strip 28. The width of strip 28 is selected tocreate the single-cell preform illustrated in FIG. 1B, a preform thathas no overlap when creased and folded. Alternatively, the strip widthcould be selected to provide an overlap of the preform edges if desiredfor the particular type of cell being formed. The fabric may be a woventextile made of cloth or polyester thread, or non-woven materials suchas thin-film polyester. As will be described below, alternativeprocesses could begin with a roll of pre-colored and patterned fabric,or the supply roll fabric could be pre-folded or a composite ofmultiple, joined, adjacent or superimposed, strips of identical ordiffering material, texture or opacity.

Strip 28 is pulled through apparatus 22, until it emerges as a fullyformed and cut-to-length preform 30, by the combined control of supplyreel motor 32, a pair of servo motor-driven nip or pulling rolls 34 anda pivoting, counterweighted, tension-leveling dancer 36, allconventional. From dancer 36, strip 28 passes through digital ink jetprinter 38, where desired color and pattern is applied. Applicant hasused a Fuji Film Dimatix printer, with associated proprietary software,for this purpose. The colored strip then moves into curing station 40,where the ink is set, preferably by high intensity UV radiation. Strip28 then goes through creasing station 42 where, in the case of thesingle-cell preform 20 of FIG. 1B, a pair of spring-loaded, sharp-edgedcreaser wheels, in conjunction with a backer roll, impresses two creaselines 16 into the strip near to the ¼-width points in from each edge ofthe strip. This conventional type of creasing station is shown inschematic, simplified form in FIG. 2, and is more fully described andillustrated in the aforementioned Colson patent, U.S. Pat. No.4,450,027.

After creasing, strip 28 is drawn through a conventional folding station44, also shown in simplified and schematic form. This station maycomprise a series of rollers of progressively changing shape ororientation and/or a channel which act to fold flaps 18 upwardly andthen back down against the central portion of the strip, into theconfiguration shown in FIG. 1B. Exemplary components of a conventionalfolding station are illustrated and described in the aforementionedColson patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,027. The folded strip then passesaround a pair of heated drums 46 to set or iron in the folds, and thenthrough an adhesive applicator station 48, also shown in schematic form.There, liquid bonding material, preferably a polyester hot meltadhesive, is supplied from a pump (not illustrated) and fed to nozzlesthat apply continuous, uniform, parallel adhesive beads 14 near to theflap edges. See Colson patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,027, for furtherexemplary details. The adhesive only partially cures to a gel statewhile in strip former assembly 22, so that it will achieve a firm bondonly after it is subsequently brought into contact with an adjacentpreform and thereafter fully cured by the application of heat, asdescribed below.

Finally, the folded but still continuous strip 28 is cut to apredetermined length by cut-off knife 50 and deposited onto receiverbelt 52. The main process controller (not illustrated) utilizes datafrom the servo motors that drive nip rolls 34 to generate digitalinstructions to time the cutting stroke of knife 50 and thereby achievethe predetermined preform length. Preferably, belt 52 travels fasterthan the speed of strip 28 through strip former assembly 22, to assurethat preform 30 is adequately spaced from following strip portions toavoid collisions and possible misalignment on belt 52.

An apparatus and method similar to that described immediately above isdescribed in commonly assigned U.S. provisional applications 61/029,201and 61/030,164, filed Feb. 15, 2008 and Feb. 20, 2008, respectively.There, individual cells are formed from a continuously-fed narrow stripof uncolored fabric, including the steps of coloring by digital ink jetprinting, folding and cutting to predetermined lengths. However, in theprocess disclosed therein, the individual cells are not accumulated andbonded directly to each other to form an integrated array of cells, butinstead form a blind-type of window covering having spaced-apart,separately expandable, cell-like vanes.

As shown in FIGS. 3-5, cut-to-length preform 30 is conveyed alongreceiver/stacker assembly 54 by receiver belt 52 until it hits feed stop56. The length of assembly 54 should be not less than the width of thegreatest shade (i.e., the length of preforms 30) to be produced. Severalsets of longitudinally-spaced idler rollers 58 function to create beltdip zones 60, where belt 52 dips below the horizontal plane ofconveyance of preforms 30. These dip zones provide clearance for aseries of preform stacker fingers 62 to push preforms 30 laterally offbelt 52, without obstruction by or interference with the belt, oncelongitudinal movement of the preform has been stopped by feed stop 56.The preforms have sufficient rigidity to ride across dip zones 60 asthey are conveyed toward stop 56. Because even short preforms need atleast two stacker fingers to push them without misalignment of thepreform, the pair of stacker fingers nearest stop 56 should be moreclosely spaced than the other pairs. Further, the spacing betweensuccessive pairs of pushers preferably increases uniformly from that endtoward the cutter end, to assure optimum pusher position for a fullrange of preform lengths with the minimum number of pushers.

An optical interrupt (not shown) senses the presence of a newly arrivedpreform at stop 56, and signals stacker ball-screw drive 64 (see FIG. 4)to cause stacker bar 66 and its associated set of stacker fingers 62 tostroke transversely across receiver belt 52. This movement causesfingers 62 to engage the edge of the stopped preform and push it toaccumulator chute 68, which is defined as the space between chute backplate 70 and chute front plate 72. The top edge of back plate 70 isslightly higher than the upper run of receiver belt 52 and the preformcarried thereby, so that it acts as a locating stop to vertically aligntransversely moving preform 30 with previously accumulated preforms.Once the preform engages back plate 70 it will come to rest uponelevator bar 74, or upon the uppermost preform that was previouslydeposited there by stacker fingers 62. The longitudinal position of theaccumulated performs will also be identical, because each preformabutted stop 56 when it was engaged by the stacker fingers. That is, therespective opposite ends of the preforms in the stack will be laterallyaligned with each other, forming opposite longitudinal edges of thearray that are substantially perpendicular to the length of thepreforms.

While fingers 62 are still engaging the now stationary uppermost preform30, tamper bar 76 is stroked downwardly by tamper cylinder 78 toinitially compress the stack of preforms on elevator bar 74 and aid inpreform-to-preform adhesion. As stacker bar 66 begins its returnhorizontal stroke over receiver belt 52, fingers 62 are raised relativeto stacker bar 66 by stacker finger lift cylinders 80 so that thefingers will clear the next preform 30 that is moving along receiverbelt 52 toward stop 56. In this way, the advance and return strokes ofstacker bar 66 can proceed at a slower cycle time than the time elapsedwhile the following preform is advancing along receiver belt 52 towardstop 56, avoiding the need to reduce the speed of fabric strip 28through strip forming assembly 22. At the conclusion of the returnstroke of stacker bar 66, stacker fingers 62 are lowered by finger liftcylinders 80 to be in position to engage the following preform 30 whenstacker bar 66 next strokes toward accumulator 68. In this regard, thedistance from cut-off knife 50 to feed stop 56, along with the linearspeeds of belt 52 and strip 28 through strip former 22, should becoordinated so that the leading edge of a given preform 30 has notadvanced as far as the first (right-hand in FIG. 3) stacker finger 62until the latter, is in its lowered position for engaging and laterallypushing the preceding preform 30, has completed its pushing strokeacross belt 52.

As best shown in FIGS. 4-5, the elevations of elevator bar 74 and thestack of preforms 30 resting thereon are controlled by elevator cylinder82. Elevator bar 74 descends by a pre-determined amount for each preformdeposited thereon, while maintaining the top of the preform stack justbelow the height of belt 52 to avoid obstructing the lateral transfer ofa preform from belt 52 onto the accumulating stack. This accumulatorarrangement permits a continuous infeed of newly cut preforms 30 fromstrip former assembly 22, but efficiency further requires that acomplete stack of the predetermined number of preforms necessary to forma customer-ordered shade be immediately removed from accumulator chute68 so that the preceding operations can continue uninterrupted. Theoverall system controller keeps track of the number of preforms thathave been transferred from belt 52 to accumulator chute 68, so that acompleted stack containing the required number of preforms for theordered window covering will be automatically and timely removed fromthe chute for further processing.

That removal step is performed by the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 5,which is a view looking upstream along the length of receiver belt 52from a point downstream from the downstream end of belt 52 (in otherwords, from the left end of FIGS. 3-4 toward the right end thereof). Theposition of elevator cylinder 82 and the length of its stroke areselected so that the top of a completed stack 90 of preforms on elevatorbar 74 can clear the bottom of chute back plate 70, enabling the stackto thereafter be moved to the right (as viewed in FIG. 5) and ontotransfer belt 84. When stack 90 in accumulator chute 68 is completed,elevator cylinder 82 retracts elevator bar 74 until the topmost preformon the stack is below the bottom of chute back plate 70. Transfercylinder 86 then strokes transfer bar 88 to the right, engaging andpushing completed preform stack 90 onto transfer belt 84 and againsttransfer stop wall 92. Transfer belt 84 may operate continuously if ithas a smooth surface to permit it to freely slide beneath the stationarybottommost preform while the stack is held against stop plate 92 bytransfer bar 88. Subsequent retraction of bar 88 would then free thestack to be conveyed by belt 84 to the adhesive-curing station (notshown in FIG. 5). Alternatively, belt 84 can be controlled to operateonly after completed stack 90 has been deposited thereon by transfer bar88. Vertically oriented rollers can be provided to confine and guidestack 90 as transfer belt 84 carries it to the curing station.

To permit the accumulation of a new stack to continue in accumulatorchute 68 while elevator bar 74 is lowering a completed stack andreturning to its uppermost position, a series of temporary accumulatorfingers (not shown) can be provided. These temporary fingers may be inthe form of narrow, flat, horizontal blades that slide horizontally(from right to left in FIG. 5) through slots in back chute plate 70.Once in position in accumulator chute 68, they can receive the first fewpreforms of the next stack until elevator bar 74 has risen to itsuppermost position. Then, temporary accumulator fingers can bewithdrawn, depositing the accumulated preforms onto elevator bar 74.

Transfer belt 84 conveys preform stack 90 to curing station 94,schematically illustrated in FIG. 6. The transfer belt serves as await-state holder for a queue of stacks. Therefore, its length may beselected as required, depending on the curing speed of the followingheating and adhesive-curing step compared to the previously describedstacking speed. The queue may be held on the belt, with the belt'ssmooth surface sliding under the queued stacks as they pile up gentlyagainst a stop at the downstream end of transfer belt 84 and until anoperator removes a stack 90 from the belt and places it into heatingpress or platen 96. A radio frequency (RF) type of heating press ispreferred, for reasons that will be explained below. Use of this form ofheating, to preferentially heat the adhesive rather than the fabric, isdisclosed in a commonly assigned published application, US 2007/0251637,published on Nov. 1, 2007, in which I am listed as a co-inventor.

Press 96 is preferably dimensioned to receive the largest contemplatedstack size. The press 96 includes base 98 and lid 100 interconnected athinge or hinges 102. A compression ram 104 is disposed at one end of thestack to assure alignment of all preforms 30 and to apply pressure tostack 90 and its adhesive lines. Stack 90 is placed in press 96, lid 100closed and locked, and compression ram 104 advanced to compress thestack so that full contact is assured between the surfaces to be bondedby heated adhesive lines 14. Thereafter, an RF field is energized bygenerator 106, powered by an electrical input 108. Application of theresulting RF electromagnetic field by voltages on the conductiveelectrode platens 110, 112 of the curing apparatus 96 heats the adhesivelines (e.g., adhesive lines or beads 14 in FIGS. 1A and 1B) to triggeractivation and curing of the adhesive, thereby bonding adjacent preformstogether wherever adhesive lines are present between them.

Adhesives that are advantageously used with RF-field curing must bethermally curable and sensitive to excitation and self-heating or curingwhen exposed to RF electromagnetic fields. They should include compoundssuch as polyester monomers, metal salts, or nylon that readily absorbenergy from such fields.

In an exemplary heating press 96, generator 106 is a 25 KW power supplythat operates at 17 MHz. A frequency of 27.12 MHz is ideal for couplingto the adhesive, but field efficiency and stability is enhanced at lowerfrequencies, and coupling is still adequate. At that frequency, thefabric portion of the assembled preforms has significantly less energyabsorption than the adhesive, minimizing the risk of thermal distortionof delicate fabrics. The temperatures of upper electrode 110 and lowerelectrode 112 are controlled to a constant temperature of 65 degreesFahrenheit by chilled and heated water (not shown). The temperature israised and lowered with changes in ambient temperature. The power andfrequency are continually adjusted to compensate for load changes duringcuring. Compression ram 104 and upper electrode 110 pressures aredeliverable pneumatically in two stages between 20 and 50 pounds persquare inch (PSI).

In one exemplary process, stack 90 is placed in press 96 and onto lowerelectrode 112. Lid and upper electrode 110 are lowered to apredetermined height in contact with the stack. The stack is initiallycompressed by pneumatic ram 104, at which time the RF field is activatedat 3.5 amps to preheat adhesive lines 14 without forcing stack 90 out ofstacked alignment. After a predetermined time, the adhesive lines havebeen softened, the stack is then further compressed, and the RF field isreduced to 2.75 amps to complete the bonding. After a secondpredetermined period of time, the RF field is terminated and the stackremains under pressure for an additional predetermined cooling period tocool in position, setting the bonds. After the cooling cycle, upper lid100 and upper electrode 110 are raised and the fully bonded and curedstack 90 is removed from press 96. The bonded array or panel is thenready for assembly to secondary components, such as top and bottom railsand control cords or wands, in conventional manner.

A final trimming step may be necessary if the ends of the individualpreforms in the bonded stack are not perfectly aligned. For thatpurpose, the process may be set up so that preforms 30, as cut-to-lengthby cut-off knife 50, are very slightly over-length. It is contemplated,however, that this trim loss would be minimal, as alignment errors instacking are typically less than 1/16^(th) of an inch on each end of thepreform. In a typical shade width of four feet, this ⅛^(th) of an inchof trim loss represents less than 0.3% of material waste, aninsubstantial amount.

The presently disclosed equipment and process could be modified withoutdeparting from some of the important aspects of the disclosed method.For example, the strip on fabric supply roll 26 could be pre-folded intothe shape of the preform before it is wound onto that roll, therebyeliminating the creasing, folding and fold-setting heating steps fromtaking place within strip forming assembly 22. Other modificationsinclude use of other types of digital printing devices, such as dyesublimation or wax transfer; or non-digital printing (such as by sprayor transfer rolls) or even elimination of the coloring step by usingpre-colored fabric on the supply roll; or application of the adhesivelines after rather than before the preforms are cut to length, or asinterrupted, stitch-like lines; or producing pre-cut preforms in severalstandard lengths (as for common window widths), perhaps combined withpost-manufacture trimming to final window covering-size width (i.e.,preform length), with or without bonding during initial manufacture; orproducing bonded preform assemblies of a standard number of cellscorresponding to the desired drop length for windows of a standardheight, followed by cutting to final window covering width only uponreceipt of a customer order; or use of other types of heating to curethe adhesive. In-line punching of clearance holes for control cordscould also be accomplished at an appropriate station within stripforming assembly 22, before strip 28 is cut to length.

It is also contemplated that the length of the initially cut-to-lengthpreform could be selected to correspond to the combined length of two ormore preforms, of either identical or different lengths. For example, ifa customer were to order multiple window coverings of identical style,color and height, but of different widths (e.g., three and four feet),the initial preform could be cut to their combined length (seven feet inthe example). Following accumulation and bonding of that combined-lengtharray (to assure positional stability of the preforms in the array to becut), the bonded array could then be cut again to divide that array intothe two (or more) specified window covering widths.

Strip forming assembly 22 can be readily modified to form other types ofknown window covering panels, such double-cell honeycomb, pleatedshades, non-pleated or non-creased shades such as billowed or open flapRoman shades, conventional roller shades formed of horizontal strips ofdifferent materials or colors or patterns, or fabric-vane windowshadings (in both horizontal or vertical orientation), each of which isor could be comprised of multiple preform elements directly joined toadjacent such elements. The conversion steps may include one or more ofthe following: a change in the material or width of the fabric on supplyroll 26, a change in number or lateral position of the creasing wheelsat creasing station 42, a change in the number or position of adhesiveapplicators at station 48, and a change in the out feed apparatus foraccumulating preforms that are not to be stacked vertically.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show examples of differently shaped preforms used to formother types of window covering panels. FIG. 7A shows a three-cellfragment of a conventional double-cell window covering panel 114,fabricated from two identical preforms 116 a and 116 b (one of which isshown in FIG. 7B) that have been bonded together. Each preform has twocreases 120 and three longitudinally extending adhesive lines, 122, 124and 126. The creases serve as crisp hinge points that, after folding andheat-setting of the folds in strip former assembly 22, create preform116 having central portion 128, long flap 130 and short flap 132.Preferably, after creases 120 are applied and the two flaps folded intothe configuration shown in FIG. 7B, adhesive line 124 is applied toultimately secure flap 130 to central portion 128, thereby defining afirst closed cell. Subsequently, before preform exits strip formerassembly 22, adhesive lines 122 and 126 are applied. Thereafter, whenpreforms 116 have been cut to length and stacked (as previouslydescribed with respect to FIGS. 3-4), adhesive lines 122 b and 126 bwill bond preforms 116 a and 116 b together, as shown in FIG. 7A.Alternatively, preform 115 could be formed in a C-shape rather than theZ-shape of FIG. 7B, by folding short flap 132 upwardly rather thendownwardly, and shifting adhesive line 126 to the upper surface of flap132 adjacent its free end. In that position, adhesive line 126 wouldcontact the upper adjacent preform rather then the lower adjacentpreform.

FIG. 8A illustrates a two-preform fragment of fabric-vane window shading134 made by bonding together adjacent and partially overlappingidentical three-component preforms 136 a and 136 b. Othermulti-component preforms that may be used to make fabric-vane windowshadings are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,819 toCorey and U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,982 to Corey and Marusak. The presentlydisclosed method of forming and assembling window coverings could alsobe used to create fabric-vane window shadings having configurationsdisclosed in those earlier patents. Referring to FIGS. 8A and 8B, by wayof example, the forming process would begin with a three-component stripconsisting of at least two dissimilar fabrics whose adjoininglongitudinal edges have been connected by gluing, ultrasonic welding,thermal bonding or stitching. Ultrasonic welding is preferred, becauseit is speedy and permits precise location of adjoining edges. Outerstrips 138, 140 are formed of relatively translucent or sheer material,and may be formed of the same or different fabrics. Central portion 142is formed of a relatively opaque material, opacified by use of a moredensely woven material, or by coating or laminating or by insertion ofopaque inserts into an integrally formed pocket. Alternatively, centralportion 142 could be formed from the same uncolored fabric as outerstrips 138, 140, and then digitally colored by the ink jet printer 38 toprovide the desired contrast. Preferably, the three-component stripwould be wound in a pre-joined state on supply reel 26, but the joiningof the adjacent components 138, 140, 142 of the three-element stripcould be accomplished in a preliminary, but still continuous, extensionof the disclosed strip former assembly 22, or it could be achieved byfolding rather than by ultrasonic joining. As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B,adhesive lines 144 and 146 are applied to preform 136 within stripformer 22, but without creasing or folding steps in the disclosedfabric-vane window shadings embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 8A, formation of a fabric-vane window shading requireslaterally staggered, only partially overlapping, positioning ofsuccessive preforms 136 a, 136 b, similar to the way bacon strips areplaced in a display pack. Successive preforms would, as in the case ofthe other disclosed preform configurations, still have their ends inlateral registry with each other. That arrangement is required so thatsuccessive sheer strips 138 a, 138 b, etc., will form adjacent segmentsof the front or rear sheer panel of the completed fabric-vane windowshading, while successive sheer strips 140 a, 140 b, etc., will formadjacent segments of the other sheer panel. As is common with this typeof product, the angular position of opaque vanes 142 between theparallel front and rear sheer panels is manually controlled by inducingrelative movement between the two sheer panels. To accomplish thatstaggered rather than fully overlapped and stacked configuration,receiver/stacker assembly 54 would need to be modified so that the cutpreform elements are pushed from receiver belt 52 onto a transverselymoving or indexing belt rather, than into a vertical accumulator chute68. The resulting product could be used as a vertical sheer orfabric-vane window shading, with the vanes oriented vertically, ratherthan as a fabric-vane window shading having horizontally oriented vanes.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that still other configurationof performs may be created using the apparatus and method disclosedherein to form repeating and directly joined elements of other types ofwindow coverings. Appropriate modifications of creasing wheel position,folding station configuration and adhesive applicator position would berequired.

One benefit of the above described RF energy-curing process is theapplication to multiple linear adhesive features that are neither‘parallel’ (i.e., reaching from one electrode to the other) nor‘perpendicular’ (i.e., presenting a broad flat target normal to thefield). In some instances, called ‘stray field’ heating, the adhesive tobe heated cannot be arranged either perpendicularly or parallel to theelectrode plates. In the described process, however, the adjacentsubstrate material is not RF-conductive and so experiences littleabsorption of the RF energy from stray fields. The fabric materialsupplied from reel 26 may be formed from woven fabric, non-woven fabric,polyester, or the like. The described process relies on the uniformplacement of discontinuous absorbent zones (adhesive lines 14) toproduce uniform absorption and heating of those zones. Otherwise, thefield stability and heating uniformity becomes unsustainable.

Another benefit is the adaptation of an RF press 96 to a flexiblesubstrate. The RF curing of a complex, flexible, expandable, product, asdescribed in the above-cited commonly assigned published application, US2007/0251637, is believed to be unique and offers advantages over theprior art methods of bonding delicate window covering materials.

As will be clear to one skilled in the art, the described embodimentsand methods, though having the particular advantages of compactness andconvenience, are not the only methods or arrangements contemplated. Someexemplary variants include: a) material to be treated and bonded can befed through the RF field in a continuous stream, rather than by batches;b) material blocks to be bonded can be fed through a smaller field area,curing from one end to the other sequentially, rather than the wholeblock at once; and c) any combination of frequencies and materialsreceptive thereto could be substituted for the chosen RF and adhesives.

The precise application of activation energy to the adhesive rather thanthe bulk stack of material has many advantages including: a) reducedtotal energy usage; b) reduced cycle time without waiting for heatingand cooling the bulk material or containments; c) reduced handling ofgoods by in-line treatment rather than large oven-run batches; d)reduced thermal distortions and discolorations due to uneven heating ofstack materials; e) precise and uniform heating of adhesive to assureuniform and complete bonding of adjacent layers without bleed-through tofarther layers; f) usability with stack materials that are not amenableto thermal or other adhesive curing cycles in bulk; and g) improvedregularity of pleat alignment and adhesive line positioning by reducedclamping and thermal loads during cure.

The use of a digitally-controlled ink jet printer provides greatflexibility in not only the color and pattern of inks applied to thesupplied fabric, but also variation in color or pattern along the lengthof the strip being fed through the printer. That is, non-uniformcoloring or patterning can be applied, not only along the length of whatwill (after cutting) be an individual preform, but also each preform ofa given window covering need not be identical in color or pattern toothers in a given stack and window covering. Thus, when differentlycolored or patterned successive preforms of a given window covering areproperly collated, a large pattern, border or image can be created thatrequires integration of multiple preforms of the window covering for itscomplete rendition, with each preform only supplying a portion of theentire desired design.

The process disclosed above provides virtually total elimination ofwaste material formerly inherent in the cutting down of large bolts offully formed expandable goods to customer-ordered window covering sizes.Also eliminated are the additional costs of handling such materialsduring and following fabrication of the bolts, as well as the storagespace and costs of storing large bolts and remnants of each of thevarious colors and fabrics within a manufacturer's catalog of availableproducts. This process also permits faster conversion of customer ordersto deliverable goods, with fewer order entry and handling errors. Tothat end, it is contemplated that customer orders, for a specifiedwindow covering type, including style, window height and width, choiceof fabric, color and pattern, could be transmitted by the Internet orother electronic communications medium from a retail outlet or interiordesigner's studio to the manufacturer, where appropriate software andlook-up tables could convert the customer's specifications into digitalinstructions for the system disclosed herein. For example, as is knownin the art, the specified vertical height or “drop height” of a cellulartype window covering can be readily converted to the required number ofcells or preforms by reference to a look-up table.

The preceding description has been presented only to illustrate anddescribe exemplary embodiments of the methods and systems of the presentinvention. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the inventionto any precise form disclosed. It will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes may be made and equivalents may besubstituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of theinvention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt aparticular situation or material to the teachings of the inventionwithout departing from the essential scope. Therefore, it is intendedthat the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosedas the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but thatthe invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope ofthe claims. The invention may be practiced otherwise than isspecifically explained and illustrated, without departing from itsspirit or scope. The scope of the invention is limited solely by thefollowing claims.

1. A method of making a plurality of different foldable, collapsiblewindow shades of customer-specified properties, each shade being formedof a plurality of elongated preforms cut from a moving narrow strip ofelongated flexible material, said method comprising: moving a strip ofelongated flexible material through a strip-forming apparatus to form aplurality of preforms each having characteristics of a custom shade,including a length determined by the width of the shade to be formedfrom the preforms; moving the plurality of preforms directly from thestrip-forming apparatus into a stack until the necessary number ofpreforms for forming a custom shade have been moved into the stack toform a complete preform stack; and moving the complete preform stackcontaining the necessary number of preforms for forming a custom shadeinto a curing station to cure bonding material placed on the preforms inthe strip-forming apparatus to cause the plurality of preforms to bondtogether to form a custom shade; wherein preforms are continuouslyformed and processed in the strip-forming apparatus and continuouslystacked to sequentially form a plurality of complete preform stacks,each compete preform stack containing the necessary number of preformsfor a custom shade, and wherein the complete preform stacks are movedfor transfer into the curing station as they are completed so as tocontinuously form custom shades of different specifications includingheight, width or color.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the preformsare stacked in an accumulator; and the stack of preforms is immediatelymoved out of the accumulator once the stack contains the necessarynumber of preforms for forming a custom shade so that additional stacksof preforms may be stacked continuously.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the quantity of wasted strip material is less than about 15% ofthe total length of strip material cut from said portions of saidcontinuous strip.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein moving said preformsinto a curing station comprises exposing said preforms to a field ofradio frequency energy that cures said bonding material, said radiofrequency energy being tuned to selectively heat said bonding materialwithout heating the flexible material sufficiently to cause noticeabledistortion thereof.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said strip is acomposite of at least two strips of dissimilar materials joined to eachother along a longitudinal joint therebetween.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein said bonding material is deposited on said first and secondportions of said moving continuous strip prior to said strip being cut.7. The method of claim 1, further comprising coupling a top-most preformto a top rail, and coupling a bottom-most preform to a bottom rail, saidtop rail and said bottom rail having lengths corresponding to the widthsof said first and second customer-specified shades to form saidrespective shades.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprisingdepositing colorant onto a first portion of said moving continuous stripof flexible material.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein stacks of cutpreforms are continuously accumulated as complete preform stacks arecontinuously transferred for curing in a curing station.
 10. The methodof claim 1, further comprising compressing the complete preform stackbefore transferring the complete preform stack to the curing station toaid in preform-to-preform adhesion before curing.
 11. A method as inclaim 1, wherein partially-curing bonding material is applied to saidpreforms in said strip-forming apparatus so as to achieve a firm bondbetween stacked preforms only after curing at a subsequent curingstation.
 12. A method as in claim 11, further comprising applyingpressure to the stack of preforms to compress the stack of preforms toaid in preform-to-preform adhesion.
 13. A method as in claim 1, whereinpreforms sufficient to form at least a portion of a custom shade arecontinuously moved from the strip-forming apparatus into a stack whilean immediately-previous complete preform stack is being moved into thecuring station.
 14. A method as in claim 13, wherein the preform stackis completed after the step of moving the immediately-previous completepreform stack is completed.
 15. A method as in claim 1, wherein thestrip of elongated flexible material is continuously moved from a supplyof strip material to the strip-forming apparatus at a substantiallyfixed rate.
 16. Apparatus for forming a stack of preforms for bondingtogether to form a window shade of customer-specified properties, saidapparatus comprising: preform forming and cutting apparatus comprising:creasing apparatus for forming a strip of material into a preform; abonding material applicator configured to apply bonding material to apreform; and cutting apparatus configured to cut the preform to adesired length corresponding to the customer-specified width of thewindow shade to be formed with the preform; an accumulator station towhich said preforms are moved immediately upon exiting said preformforming and cutting apparatus and stacked one upon another until acomplete preform stack containing the necessary number preforms forforming a window shade of the customer-specified height has been stackedtherein; and complete preform stack transferring apparatus arranged totransfer the complete preform stack out of said accumulator station assoon as the complete preform stack contains the necessary number ofpreforms for forming a window shade of the customer-specified height.17. An apparatus as in claim 16, further comprising a system controllerkeeping track of the number of preforms in said accumulator station andsignaling said complete preform stack transferring apparatus to transferthe complete preform stack out of said accumulator station.
 18. Anapparatus as in claim 16, further comprising a curing station, saidcomplete preform stack transferring apparatus transferring said completepreform stack from said accumulator station to said curing station. 19.An apparatus as in claim 18, further comprising a holding stationbetween said complete preform stack transferring apparatus and saidcuring station.
 20. An apparatus as in claim 19, wherein said holdingstation is configured to hold more than one complete preform stack fortransfer into said curing station.
 21. An apparatus as in claim 16,wherein said preform forming and cutting apparatus further comprises areceiving and stacking assembly positioned to receive cut preforms, saidreceiving and stacking assembly having a stop positioned to stopmovement of said preforms into said receiving and stacking assembly,wherein preforms moved from said receiving and stacking assembly intosaid accumulator station are longitudinally aligned with one another bysaid stop.
 22. An apparatus as in claim 21, wherein said receiving andstacking assembly further comprises at least two stacker fingers forpushing preforms out of said receiving and stacking assembly and intosaid accumulator station.
 23. An apparatus as in claim 16, wherein saidaccumulator station further comprises a tamper bar movable to compresssaid stack of preforms to aid in preform-to-preform adhesion.
 24. Anapparatus as in claim 16, further comprising a station for feeding astrip of material into said creasing apparatus.
 25. An apparatus as inclaim 16, wherein said bonding material applicator appliespartially-curing bonding material so as to achieve a firm bond betweenstacked preforms only after curing at a subsequent curing station.